Kyoji Horiguchi Smashes Tetsu Suzuki at Shooto 2012 3rd Round

By: Tony LoiseleurMar 10, 2012

TOKYO -- Promising 2010 rookie standout Kyoji
Horiguchi triumphantly capped an evening of competitive action
in the main event of Sustain’s Shooto 2012
3rd Round at Korakuen Hall on Saturday. Though lacking the
typically flamboyant annual series title, Sustain’s latest offering
was nonetheless delivered with a subtitle message to “never forget
3/11,” as the event was held one day shy of the anniversary of the
devastating 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami.

Little over a month removed from his loss to former Shooto 132-pound
champion Masakatsu
Ueda, 2010 rookie MVP and rookie champion Horiguchi got back on
the winning track with a resounding technical knockout shellacking
of Tetsu
Suzuki.

“It didn’t matter that [Suzuki] was a grappler,” said a confident
Horiguchi. “I just wanted to put on a show that would erase the
frustration I’d felt in losing to Ueda.”

Horiguchi did just that, brutally dispensing with Suzuki in short
order. Shucking off a string of “Hadairo” takedown attempts after
the opening bell, Horiguchi terrorized the sneaky grappler with
punishing punches from above while working to extricate his leg.
Once free and fully back on his feet, he continued to press the
attack, battering Suzuki from pillar to post. Having little answer
for the Krazy Bee prodigy on the feet, Suzuki lunged for
Horiguchi’s legs, but it quickly proved a tactical mistake, as the
rookie champion continued to blast him with punches.

“We weren’t sweaty yet, so I struggled to get free of the takedown
attempts. I wasn’t taken down, though, because an opponent with
good takedown ability tends to rise upward. [Suzuki] was dropping
down instead, so I felt I was safe,” reflected Horiguchi.

Horiguchi’s rain of punches continued until Suzuki had little
recourse but to hang on to a leg for dear life, eating punishment
while waiting for referee Toshiharu Suzuki to call a stop to the
bout. Suzuki showed mercy at the 2:06 mark.

“I want to fight for the Shooto world title,” said Horiguchi, of
his immediate future. “No, I don’t want to leave Shooto just yet. I
just [want] the title first. I think it’ll be a striker’s fight [if
I fight Shooto 132-pound world champion Koetsu
Okazaki].”

Just prior the explosive main event, Junji Ito and
Yuki
Shojo added further evidence to the notion that lower weight
fighters produce exciting fights, as both men scrapped tooth and
nail for three rounds.

Ito opened strong, outclassing Shojo on the feet, marking him up
with low kicks and punches while retreating and sidestepping just
out of his opponent’s range. Frustrated, Shojo charged headlong
into fire while trying to land shots of his own, but he was met
with sharp, blistering Ito combinations. His perseverance paid off
in the final frame when Ito slowed, allowing Shojo to land some
punches before putting “Sarumaru” on his back where he hammered
away until final bell. However, despite the rousing comeback in the
final period, the best Shojo could get was from judge Tomohiro
Tanaka, who saw the fight a draw at 29-29. Judges Tadashi
Yokoyama and Suzuki saw it 29-28 for Ito.

Although it looked like a promising 124.7-pounds of pure violence
-- since Jo entered the fight 1.3 pounds over the official weight
limit -- his furious barrage of punches and kicks on the feet and
off his back disappeared in the latter two rounds as he mashed on
the former Shooto champion with knees in the clinch and short
punches from guard. It was all a frustrated Kojima could do to
either defend against the Korean’s offense in the clinch and guard
or stop his takedown attempts, as, outside of a few knees to the
face and a decent first-round guillotine choke attempt, the former
Shooto titleholder could not find any purchase to assert himself in
the fight. Judges Tanaka and Suzuki saw the bout 30-28 and 29-28,
respectively, for Jo, while Yokoyama was less certain with his
29-29 ruling.

Much like Jo, former Cage Force featherweight champion Yuji Hoshino
grinded out a victory over a former Shooto champion in Akitoshi
Tamura, taking a hard-fought decision over the WEC
veteran.

With Tamura opting to tie up in the clinch for knees or rack up low
kicks from distance, Hoshino instead chose to work his oppressive
top game, mashing Tamura from guard with short punches in the first
and final frames. The first and last Cage Force featherweight
champion took home 30-28 cards courtesy of judges Tanaka and
Yokoyama, while judge Suzuki awarded him a 30-27 scorecard.

Protecting Shooto’s honor from the invading 135-pound King of
Pancrase,
Haruo
Ochi took a narrow decision over Kiyotaka
Shimizu by hunting him down with big punches for three
rounds.

In true Shimizu fashion, Pancrase ace stuck to the outside to sting
with jabs and low kicks, ducking down for takedown attempts when
Ochi lunged with haymakers. Ochi pancaked most of Shimizu’s
takedown attempts, however, and, as the rounds wore on, began
connecting with big punches to the face and body. As evasive as
Shimizu proved, Ochi connected just enough for judges Tanaka and
Kanno to give the fight to him 30-29 and 29-28, respectively, while
judge Suzuki was less certain, ruling the fight a 29-29 draw.

While Osawa was able to leverage his wrestling to park himself in
Yachi’s guard for the first frame, the second and third rounds saw
the Krazy Bee product’s resurgence on the feet. Connecting with
hard left straights and walloping right hooks on his fellow
southpaw, Yachi racked up the damage while Osawa missed with wild
haymakers and faked takedown attempts. Yachi dropped Osawa in the
third with the aforementioned combination but could not finish, as
Osawa dove desperately for a takedown just before the bell. Still,
the beating was harsh and consistent enough for judges Yokoyama,
Tanaka and Suzuki to unanimously vote Yachi the winner with 29-28
scores.

Sasaki’s game plan essentially amounted to patiently moving Hoshino
to the canvas to work his way toward passing to a dominant
position. Hoshino remained active, however, punching from the
bottom and arguably doing more damage than his more conservative
opponent. Eating the punches while fighting for dominant position
apparently wore down Sasaki, as he desperately hunted for a choke
in the final moments of the bout, to little avail. As such, judges
Yokoyama and Suzuki ruled the bout a 29-29 draw, while judge Kanno
saw it 29-28 for Sasaki.

Meanwhile, 132-pound rookie champion and 2011 rookie MVP Michinori
Tanaka notched a dominant win over Jong Hoon
Choi, shellacking the Korean fighter for all of
three-and-a-half minutes before putting him out of his misery with
a submission.

Starting with a hard right hand on the feet, Tanaka continued to
batter Choi on the ground as he looked in vain for reversals and
submission openings. After softening him up with ground-and-pound,
Tanaka put Choi in the Kadowaki special -- a rear-naked choke from
the crucifix -- earning the tap at the 3:29 mark.

Starting off the show, 2011 rookie champion at 123-pounds Yuya Shibata
received a rough introduction into Shooto A-class competition,
courtesy of Ryuichi Miki.
Shibata put up a fair fight in securing top position in half guard
and a moment in the full mount, but Miki’s sharper punches on the
feet and ground throughout the bout saw him prevail with 30-27
scores on the cards of judges Yokoyama, Kanno and Suzuki.